Dems' party chief does work for GOP firm, report says

Some Democrats say Karen Thurman should have reported the moonlighting.

July 6, 2007|By Steve Bousquet St. Petersburg Times

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida Democratic Party chairwoman Karen Thurman makes $100,000 a year to build a political machine to compete with Republicans.

At the same time, she earns extra income working for a law firm headed by one of the state's leading Republicans, Al Cardenas, the former head of the state's GOP.

Some Democratic Party activists who learned of the arrangement for the first time this week from a news article said Thurman should have disclosed the Republican ties previously, and asked whether Thurman has other moonlighting jobs they don't know about.

"A hundred thousand dollars a year is pretty nice. We're still the Democratic Party. We're struggling," said Janee Murphy, a Democratic National Committee member from Tampa.

As a former Democrat in Congress, Thurman is paid by the Tew Cardenas firm to build bridges with her former Capitol Hill colleagues on behalf of Miami-Dade County.

Cardenas was state GOP chairman during the tenure of Gov. Jeb Bush, a time in which Thurman lost her redrawn House seat to Republican Ginny Brown-Waite.

Murphy said she wants to give Thurman a chance to explain, but was concerned that Thurman would help Miami-Dade get federal dollars at the expense of other Florida areas.

Democratic national committeeman Jon Ausman said Thurman should have disclosed her outside work, and she should be required to file the same disclosure form that elected officials file each year.

"There needs to be full disclosure," Ausman said. "It was a total surprise."

Said state party vice chairwoman Diane Glasser: "This should be fully disclosed. It would serve her needs a lot better." She added: "It concerns me that it was a big-time Republican."

To state Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, the House minority leader, it's much ado about nothing. "Everybody in political life navigates the ironies of relationships and friendships," Gelber said. "It's ironic, but it's not improper."

As first reported in The Miami Herald, Thurman is paid $3,500 a month to help Cardenas' firm set up meetings with Democratic members of Congress on behalf of Miami-Dade. The county wants additional seaport security money.

Among those whose help Thurman sought are Rep. Benny Thompson, D-Miss., who chairs the Homeland Security Committee, and Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., the House majority leader.

Thurman, a Democrat from Dunnellon who served in Congress from 1993 to 2002, could not be reached for comment.